planes

Pilots want to fly, but it’s expensive. People want to travel but it’s a hassle. AirPooler brings them together on its site where pilots can sell empty seats on private plane flights. This bootstrapped startup is launching today with availability on flights out of the Bay Area and San Diego, and gave TechCrunch the exclusive first look at taking collaborative consumption to the sky. Read More

Skyhook, the company that once powered Apple’s iOS location services and that pioneered WiFi positioning in 2003, today announced the latest version of its developer kit for Android. There are two major new features here that should bring some interesting new capabilities to Android apps in the near future. Most importantly, the new SDK (version 4.6) now offers an always-on location… Read More

A few days ago, we foretold of the Boeing event where they would release the new 747-8: Boeing’s largest airliner ever built. Well it happened, and Wired got some good pics at the event. The fly-by-wire plane still has to undergo further testing and log more flight hours. The fly-by-wire system is relatively new — earlier planes required mechanical linkage — and so a new… Read More

That’s right: you can own the plane that “Sully” Sullenberger dropped ever-so-gently into the Hudson on January 15, 2009, a little over a year ago. It looks like it’s still in pretty good condition – maybe it would make a nice playhouse for the kids? – with most of the gear intact. Read More

Owners of super-light laptops can appreciate the miracle of carbon fiber, a strong but light material being used more and more in high-end notebooks.
Airbus is now using the same carbon fiber material in the wings of its new A400M military aircraft. The reduced weight of the wings “cuts the fuel consumption by at least 20%," said Dave Phipps, head of the Airbus carbon fiber… Read More

Does that thing look cool or what? I’d like one for playing games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil — total isolation, total darkness. Plus, no one would hear me scream and weep, unlike at my apartment.
The object pictured is the top-of-the-line CAE-7000 commercial flight-sim system put out by CAE, a major provider of such things. Delta’s using the CAE-7000 to train its… Read More

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are in use all over the world for many things, but most famously for their role in warfare. Fantasy abounds and people picture UAVs or “drones” sweeping Iraq in formation, eradicating enemies with the “Terminator” theme in the background. Well, the drones are working to fight that image.
NOAA is working on deploying some drones from Barbados… Read More

[photopress:p398.jpg,full,pp_image]
Me: Biggs, how was the flight?
Biggs: Felt like Richie Valens. We’re taking the f’ing train back to Dusseldorf.
Me: I’m not getting back in that animal cracker box with wings. I need to change my boxers. Read More

Airline fares? Yeah, I’m telling you about discount fares on Virgin America because it’s the geekiest domestic airline out there right now. No need to use SeatGuru to find out which seats have outlets because every seat on VA has an outlet. RED is a pretty badass in-flight entertainment suite considering you don’t have to pay for it like you would on other airlines. Oh, and… Read More

Why should American Airlines and Jet Blue have all the fun? Southwest is getting set to test in-flight Internet access as well.
It’ll partner with Row 44, offering satellite-based access on four different aircraft sometime this summer.
Passengers will have “full access to the Internet” over the “the highest bandwidth available to commercial airlines in the United… Read More

I need to book my next flight ASAP. Nintendo is getting ready to test out ‘download stations’ at the international airports in New York (JFK: Terminals 2 and 3), Atlanta (Hartsfield-Jackson) and Cincinnati (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky). What are they testing? That’s a very good question and I have the answer for you. Nintendo DS owners will be wirelessly downloading a… Read More

For those of us who fly frequently, we know that going through the security checkpoints over and over is a pain in the ass and a huge hassle for geeks due to our abundance of electronics on hand. Well if you’ve got $100 a year to shell out and are ready to pay a $28 one-time fee, try Flyclear for a change. This clear, credit-cardesque device allows you to speed through airport… Read More